The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-07-14
ABOUT POKER CHIPS.
MANUFACTURE OF THE LITTLE
DISKS THAT so MANY HANDLE.


DISKS THAT so MANY HANDLE.
Information on the Subject from q
Dealer in Sporting Artlcles-Material
of Which Checks Are Made-Extent of
the Trade.
"Don't play poker with a man who juggles
with his checks. Distrust him il you find that
in a moment Of abstraction he picks up
stack of whites and drops the checks ono at u
time from the bottom of the pile and makes
each one turn completely over and yet land
squarely upon the one beneath It. Suspect
him il he can divide stack and run it to-
gether again with one hand. Such familiar
ity with the disks betokens long experience,
and if he is not d professional he is at least
man who has spent years in acquiring this
proficiency at thegreen covered tables Few
amateurs have these tricks, and, while pro-
fessionals who have learned them may try
hard TO avoid practicing them, they will dc
it inadvertently in moments of abstraction,
and you can generally make up your mind
that it is improbable to sit long i'll their COM
pany."
The speaker was dealer in sporting arti-
cles and while talking he illustrated his re-
marks 10y deity mingling red white and blue
poker chips with one hand. These are the
composition chips" he said. Even i'll poker
chips there has been great improvement III
the last decade. In old times we used Moth
ing but ivory, and they cost from $50 to 81.
a hundred, according to the amount Of artistic
hansiiwork displayed upon them. Then the
chips were like oins and stack was worth.
its weight i'll silver but ivory chips were no1
rs good as these We now sell for from $40 to
So a Thousand. Ivory chips were always Ii
source of trouble to their owners. They were
seriously affected by changes Of temperature
and by moisture and were constantly crack
ing or warping out of shape.
THE BEST CHECK.
''The best checks arc those which are per-
fectly fat, of even thickness and equal dia-
meter. They must stack up evenly, for the
adept poker player never wants the trouble
Of counting his checks. lie can pick up five.
lay them against the side of all odd stack and
cut of five more. Putting the two fiyes to-
gcthcr he has the gage of half u stack, and
with them cuts out ten more checks from the
pilo to make an even stack. lie will keep
that stack whole as long as he can, to measure
up against. Now you can easily see that
checks must be all of the ono thickness and
perfectly fiat, Or the measurement may be
faulty. All the checks in use now are made
of composition pressed into dies. Rubber and
cclluioid checks are sold in considerable quan.
titles, but neither of these materials are con
s;deled as good as certain secret compositions
made by five or six firms in this country with
shcllac as basis.
s.Herc is q check made in Newark The ma
tcrial seems as hard as stone aud / believe
that there is considerable stone In the com
position. The manufacturer has made at least
- Goa. 600 checks in the last five years. They
are made twenty-five at a time i'll steam heat
cd presses and these lines and figures whicl
| look like engray ying are produced by raiseC
| figures in the molis Before he produced
| these checks they were all engrave ed by hailt
at considerable cost, and the only low price
| poker chips in market were plain or ringei
| This is the favorite size of checks-just the
| diameter and thickness OF silver dollar. The
| maker employs 100 hands, who can turn OH
about ;3}5, COO checks every day, bur the bust
ness is not confined to poker chips alone
/ They make fancy buttons, checkers, and mar
| tngale rings Of the same composition.
''IIere i, white check with all owl outline,
in blue, and here arc blue and red checks
with 1t 5rse shoes, crowns, elephants and al
chors outlined in white. He has fifteen de
signs, six of which are special patterns mad
only for their originators A year or two ag'
one of the hi. tobacco manufacturers order
cl 1000, 900 checks Of this size with the at;
vertsenlcnt of brand of chewing tobacco
upon them. They were given away to Gus
toners, AMI the biggest part Of them wen
| west and south.
| AS \ HONE AMUSEMENT.
II Al ~;f - 81, ~ oh l.
make any difference in sales with youH
| No; the business is steadily increasing al
the time, and the increase Is largely due t
the fashionable popularity of draw poker q
home amusement Poker parties seem t
be increasing everywhere. Five or six youn
men make up a club to play at one another
houses, and each one has to have n full outf
of cards and checks If they met in clu
room ono set Of checks would answer for al
They pay 81 or So hundred for the check:
and like to have different designs for eac
house they play at. Dealers have thei
favorite designs, and because they talk ther
up to their customers, they sell great man
| OF them to the exclusion of other designs
have a California customer, who buys nOtl
ing for his trade but the horse shoe patterl
and there is a club uptown which uses moth
ing but shamrocks. The members have tait
in luck attending the t-efoil We sometime
have orders for 100, 900 checks Mt time. A
order of this kind generally asks for four co
ols. Nearly one-half will be white, one-thir
red, and the remainder divided between blu
and yellow in the proportion of two blucs I
one yellow. Yellow is almost iHvariabi
usel for the highest priced checks, AMI whit
for the lowest These polished walnut box,
contain 100 checks. Half of them are whit,
and the other half equally divided bctwec
red and blue One box II not enough for q
ordinary poker party, and some little pok,
circles that know OF have as many as q,
checks. 4 party of five players shoaid
able to get along nicely with 200 checks, bt
many players have prejudice against sci
ing from their winnings, anI the banker ma
run out Of checks while they are SACKED u
Oh the table i'll front of one or two lucky mel
who think that it will break their run Of iGc
to cash any OF them in before they are read
to quit the game. Nearly all poker playe
are supcrs,itious to q degree. New Yor
Sun.
The Law In Michigan.
Advance agents Of theatrical compani